Friday, January 27, 2012

Today, I’m sharing an original poem about Newt Gingrich that I included in The Republicans’ “Ideas Man” & The Junior Janitors of America,an article I wrote for Jonathan Turley’s law blog. Some of you may remember that Newt said he thought child labor laws were stupid when he spoke at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government last year. He had a hare-brained idea that unionized school janitors could be fired and poor students could earn some “honest” money working as assistant janitors under one master janitor.

Newt’s own words:

“It is tragic what we do in the poorest neighborhoods, entrapping children in, first of all, child laws, which are truly stupid. Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school. The kids would actually do work, they would have cash, they would have pride in the schools, they’d begin the process of rising.”

“You’re going to see from me extraordinarily radical proposals to fundamentally change the culture of poverty in America.”

That’s one radical proposal for sure. And one for which the Republicans’ “Ideas Man” received quite a bit of criticism. Later, Newt bowed “to concerns that janitorial work is dangerous.” He then decided he needed to clarify his proposal and provided more specifics. He said poor kids could mop floors and clean bathrooms after school. He also suggested that they could sit in a clerical office greeting people.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Here's another one of my fairy tale poems. This one is about Sleeping Beauty.

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A Groggy Sleeping Beauty Speaks to the Prince Who Just Woke Her with a Kiss

I pricked my finger on the wheel

While spinning. How my head did reel, And suddenly I counted sheep… Then in an instant, fell asleep. That’s all I can remember, though. Was that one hundred years ago?

Are Mommy, Daddy still alive? And when, dear prince, did you arrive?

You woke me with a kiss? How sweet. Forsooth! I’m hungry. I could eat Three little pigs, a wolf, a bear, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel’s hair! Would you go fetch some burgers, fries, A mushroom pizza—super size— Three partridges, a roasted boar, Two apple tarts…and one thing more: A gallon of fresh lemonade? Then please, dear prince, go kiss my maid.

Mary Lee Hahn has a poem about Jackie Robinson by J. Patrick Lewis at A Year of Reading. It’s from Pat’s forthcoming book on Civil Rights heroes.

Jeff Barger of NC Teacher Stuff has posted a review of the soon to be released A Leaf Can Be..., which is a book of verse about leaves written by Laura Salas and illustrated by Violeta Dabija.

Liz Steinglass joins us Poetry Friday posters for the first time—and shares her original poem titled Bad Homework. Welcome, Liz!

Tabatha Yeatts is on vacation, enjoying a well-earned rest under the sun, but she's left behind word clouds she created with Tagxedo from three different poems. Check them out at her blog TheOpposite of Indifference.

Head on over to Carol’s Corner today. She’s featuring DREAMSAND DIRECTIONS, a collection of 200 poems, written by the students of Denver.

Ever the sharer of delicious literature and recipes, Jama Rattigan has a poem for us today by Daniel Nyikos titled Potato Soup—AND a recipe for Hungarian Potato and Sausage Soup. Yum!

Author Amok returns today after a long absence from Poetry Friday. She says she couldn’t resist celebrating William Stafford's birthday, this week. She’s sharing his poem Passing Remark with a response poem of her own.

We have another Poetry Friday first-timer this week. His name is Charles Van Gorkom. He’s sharing his poem Minus Eight at Twenty Below. He says it provides a glimpse of life in the small north Canadian town where the movie was filmed.

Charles Ghigna, aka Father Goose, has an original poem titled My Birthday’s Tomorrow. It’s for all the little cowboys in the world.

Caryl is celebrating the snow and cold they're finally getting in Minnesota by remembering Lois Lenski's poem/book, I Like Winter.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Nearly twenty years ago, I began work on a collection of fairy tale poems. I have posted a number of the poems previously at Wild Rose Reader. Today, I have a poem written in the form of a FAX from Cinderella to Prince Charming.

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FAX

TO: PRINCE CHARMING FROM: CINDERELLA

10 TINY TOES LANE

FAIRYTOWN, FRANCE

Remember me…the lovely lass

Who lost her slipper made of glass? I didn’t want to leave the ball, But I received an urgent call From Rent-A-Coach demanding I Return their carriage pronto. Why? I guess some wealthy magistrate Reserved it for a midnight date. I’ve heard you’re searching everywhere To find the maid who fit the pair Of teeny tiny crystal shoes. My darling prince, I have good news: I’vegot the left. You’ve got the right. Come try it on MY foot tonight! You’ll find my address up above. Can’t wait to see you. All my love.

Friday, January 6, 2012

A few years ago, I wrote a Wild Rose Reader post titled How Sweet It Is!: A Poetry Tale. In the post, I talked abouta collection of candy poems that I had written—and provided some background on the project. Here’s an excerpt from that post:

My collection of candy poems takes you through a year with sweets. For example, there are poems about a heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day, marshmallow chicks for Easter, toasting marshmallows for summer, licorice for Halloween, and chocolate coins for Hanukkah and Christmas.

I wrote the following poem for the month of January. When I was looking at the rock candy that I had bought at Yummies—a candy store in Maine—it made me think of icicles and cold winter days.

ROCK CANDY

Jack Frost waved his magic wand

And conjured up a crystal candy Perfect for crunching on a winter day… A rough, jagged icicle Of sugar frozen on a wooden stick.

About Me

I worked as an elementary school teacher for more than three decades and as a school librarian for three years. I also taught a children's literature course at Boston University from 2002-2008. I served on the advisory board of the Keene State College Children’s Literature Festival from 2006-2008 and as a member of the NCTE Poetry Committee from 2009-2012. I am now retired and write poetry for children. "Things to Do," my first children's book, will be published by Chronicle Books in February of 2017.